Research & Enrichment
Race & Racism Reading List
It is up to us as citizens in a democratic society to learn about the history of race and racism in America and around the world. In order to understand the systemic and institutionalized racism that oppresses us, as well as our neighbors, it is important for us to continue to learn and encourage each other to read, watch, and develop this understanding. The following is a list of materials available for all ages to participate in this learning together.
To find even more book selections, check out the American Library Association's Reading for Change: Booklist-Recommended Titles for All Ages.
Adult Books
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (nonfiction)
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong (nonfiction)
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (nonfiction)
Waking Up White by Debbie Irving (nonficition)
Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald (nonfiction)
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad (nonfiction)
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (nonfiction)
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (nonfiction)
How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America by Moustafa Bayoumi (nonfiction)
The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jesmyn Ward (nonfiction)
White Fragility by Robin Diangelo (nonfiction)
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (nonfiction)
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (nonfiction)
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown (nonfiction)
The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter (nonfiction)
An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz (nonfiction)
We Had a Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff (nonfiction)
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (nonfiction)
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson (nonfiction)
Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum (nonfiction)
Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches by Audre Lorde (nonfiction)
Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson (nonfiction)
Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis (nonfiction)
How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide by Crystal Marie Fleming (nonfiction)
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks (nonfiction)
How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones (nonfiction)
This is One Way to Dance by Sejal Shah (nonfiction)
Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo (nonfiction)
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (fiction)
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (fiction)
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine (poetry)
The Known World by Edward P. Jones (fiction)
Counting Descent by Clint Smith (poetry)
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (fiction)
The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda (fiction)
The Leavers by Lisa Ko (fiction)
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (fiction)
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates (fiction, fantasy)
Caucasia by Danzy Senna (fiction)
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (fiction, sci-fi)
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult (fiction)
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (fiction)
Remembrance by Rita Woods (fiction, fantasy)
Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith (poetry)
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby (fiction, thriller)
New Waves by Kevin Nguyen (fiction)
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (fiction)
Sula by Toni Morrison (fiction)
The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr. (fiction)
Classics
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (fiction)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (fiction)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (fiction)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (fiction)
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (fiction)
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (fiction)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (autobiography)
Ain't I a Woman by bell hooks (nonfiction)
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (poetry)
Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith (fiction)
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (fiction)
Native Son by Richard Wright (fiction)
Children's Books
Visit these links to find more socially-conscious books for children, tweens, and teens:
The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
Let's Talk About Race by Julius Lester
Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Mendez
The Skin I'm In: A First Look at Racism by Pat Thomas
We're Different, We're the Same by Bobbi Jane Kates
Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, & Ann Hazzard
Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
What If We Were All the Same? by C.M. Harris
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford
Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi
Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
The Most Beautiful Thing by Kao Kalia Young
The Day You Begin by Jaqueline Woodson
An ABC of Equality by Chana Ginelle Ewing
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
When We Were Alone by David Robertson
Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Charles Waters & Irene Latham
A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
Seperate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
Mary and the Trail of Tears by Andrea L. Rogers
You Matter by Christian Robinson
Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin
All Because You Matter by Tami Charles
William Still and His Freedom Stories: The Father of the Underground Railroad by Don Tate
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford
Magnificent Homespun Brown by Samara Cole Doyon
Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade
The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome
Tween & Teen Books
Visit these links to find more socially-conscious books for children, tweens, and teens:
This is My America by Kim Johnson (fiction)
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas (fiction)
All American Boys by Brendan Kiely & Jason Reynolds (fiction)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (fiction)
Dear Justice by Nic Stone (fiction)
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson (fiction)
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon (fiction)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis (fiction)
Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez (fiction)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (fiction)
Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi (fiction)
Say Her Name by Zetta Elliott (poetry)
Light It Up by Kekla Magoon (fiction)
Dear Martin by Nic Stone (fiction)
American Street by Ibi Zoboi (fiction)
March (Graphic Novel Trilogy) by John Lewis (nonfiction)
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (YA Edition) by Ibram X. Kendi & Jason Reynolds (nonfiction)
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (fiction)
New Kid by Jerry Craft (fiction, graphic novel)
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (fiction, graphic novel)
Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper (fiction)
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (fiction)
Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight for Their Rights by Mikki Kendall (nonfiction, graphic novel)
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (fiction)
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (fiction, fantasy)
Blended by Sharon M. Draper (fiction)
A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée (fiction)
Lifting As We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne (nonfiction)
King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender (fiction)
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha (autobiography, graphic novel)
A Song Below Water by Bethany Morrow (fiction, sci-fi)
Love is a Revolution by Renée Watson (fiction)
We Are Not From Here by Sanchez by Jenny Torres (fiction)
Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca (fiction)
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (fiction, fantasy)
All the Days Past, All the Days to Come by Mildred D. Taylor (fiction)
Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros (fiction)
The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas (fiction)
Never Look Back by Lillian Rivera (fiction)
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus (fiction)
Tristen Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia (fiction)
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in 10 Blocks by Jason Reynolds (fiction)
Movies & Television
Watchmen (2019) (Rated TV-MA)
I Am Not Your Negro (2017) (Rated PG-13) (nonfiction)
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) (Rated R)
The 13th (2016) (Not Rated) (nonfiction) (CLICK HERE to watch for free on YouTube)
Get Out (2017) (Rated R)
Ruby Bridges (1997) (Family-Friendly)
Selma (2014) (Rated PG-13)
Remember the Titans (2000) (Rated PG)
Clemency (2019) (Rated R)
Zootopia (2016) (Rated PG)
Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas (2018) (Rated TV-MA) (nonfiction) (CLICK HERE to watch for free on YouTube)
Blackkklansman (2018) (Rated R)
The Hate U Give (2018) (Rated PG-13)
Green Book (2018) (Rated PG-13)
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) (Rated R)
Fences (2016) (Rated PG-13)
Queen & Slim (2019) (Rated R)
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (Rated G)
Do the Right Thing (1989) (Rated R)
Nella The Princess Knight (Rated G)
Loving (2016) (Rated PG-13)
Insecure (2016) (Rated TV-MA)
Malcom X (1992) (Rated PG-13)
Hidden Figures (2016) (Rated PG)
42 (2013) (Rated PG-13)
The Joy Luck Club (1993) (Rated R)
Mississippi Masala (1991) (Rated R)
The Big Sick (2017) (Rated R)
Who's Streets? (2017) (Rated R) (nonfiction)
Gook (2017) (Not Rated)
Moonlight (2016) (Rated R)
Moana (2016) (Rated PG)
Crime + Punishment (2018) (Not Rated) (nonfiction) (CLICK HERE to watch for free on YouTube)
Queen of Katwe (2016) (Rated PG)
Harriet (2019) (Rated PG-13)
Contact Info
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Huron, Ohio 44839